1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coastal erosion control and more particularly relates to a method and apparatus of coastal erosion control wherein an array of hollow reinforced concrete blocks are positioned along vulnerable coastline areas, filled with sand, water, mud, shell, or heavy refuse such as broken concrete or rip-rap, then sealed after the refuse is added so that the wave action of heavy seas cannot scatter the refuse, and wave action is dissipated.
2. General Background
Stabilization of coastal shorelines has become a major problem in many coastal areas of the country, such as, for example, the Louisiana Gulf Coast area, where many thousands of acres of wetlands are disappearing each year. The shorelines are eroding or disappearing because of a number of reasons, at least one reason being excessive wave action that eats away at the shoreline. Loss of wetlands causes a decrease in habitat for numerous marine species, such as shrimp, crabs, and fish.
Numerous devices have been patented which have attempted to solve the problem of coastal stabilization. The following are examples of U.S. Patents that have been granted for structures that can be placed in a coastal zone or in shallow water for the purpose of stabilizing the shoreline:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor ______________________________________ 4,668,123 Larsen 4,571,121 Albert 4,483,640 Berger 4,431,337 Iwasa 4,367,984 Cartwright 4,297,052 Rankin 3,957,098 Hepworth ______________________________________
Many of these prior art systems use blocks or structures that are relatively small and that are stacked or placed side-by-side for the purpose of dissipating wave energy. The problem with such small structures is that they are only used where the water interfaces with the shoreline and thus, are of little value in deeper water to break the wave action which pounds at beaches and shorelines. Many of these smaller structures can be moved by very heavy wave action that occurs, for example, during storms such as hurricanes. It is known that hurricanes can greatly erode a shoreline in a matter of a few days when huge wave surges pound at the shoreline and when water levels rise several feet in what is commonly called a tidal surge.